2009 has been a great year for Maropeng and we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the year that has been while we excitedly look forward to 2010.

This year, Maropeng again welcomed thousands of visitors – from learners to pensioners. We would like to thank all of you for your support in making Maropeng your destination of choice, year after year.

At Maropeng, we are preparing to welcome the world to the place of human origins in 2010. We hope you are all ready to join us in doing so!

We wish you all a happy and safe festive season.

The Maropeng family

Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves don’t close over the December and January holidays; they are the places to be over the festive season!

The Maropeng Visitor Centre is an exciting and interactive world-class exhibition that focuses on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years. The Sterkfontein Caves are world famous for their fossil finds and a well-known visitor destination.

With a top restaurant and conferencing facilities on offer, improved access into the caves, new walkways and a boardwalk past the excavation site where world-acclaimed fossils have been discovered, there will be no getting bored these holidays.

Our staff members are like family to us. At Maropeng we highly value each and every person who works with us – they are all important, whether their role is big or small.

The Maropeng website reflects this belief – it features staff profiles so that visitors can become familiar with the wonderful people who make it all possible.

Each profile includes information about what the staff member thinks about his or her role at Maropeng and how he or she feels about being a part of the Maropeng family, as well as some positive comments from other members of staff. It is evident that the Maropeng staff feel they are always supported and part of a great team that is positive and hard working.

Our diligent team of special individuals deserves to be named and credited for all of their hard work this year. Here are just some of them:

Aaron Konopi, Diane Naude, Samson Mqwati, Johanna Mbewe, Paul Mabuza, Trudie Delport, Thabo Shabango, Sylvia Makgetla, Peter Mhanaza and Lindsay Marshall.

Thank you to each and every one for making 2009 great!

The Maropeng Hotel is running an accommodation special for December and January!

Peace, serenity and fresh country air await you at the luxurious Maropeng Hotel, our four-star boutique hotel.

This festive offer includes bed and breakfast, dinner and a combined tour of Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves for only R840 per person per night.

For more information and to make a booking, please click here.

The Maropeng Education Programme has provided hundreds of disadvantaged students with the educational experience of a lifetime by sponsoring school trips to Maropeng.

The programme was established to fund visits for schools and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, offering them an opportunity to learn about their ancestry and origins. The students have to deal with harsh economic and social issues on a daily basis and a day at Maropeng opens their eyes to the possibilities the world has to offer.

Maropeng Marketing Manager Erica Saunders is excited about the future of the Maropeng Education Programme. “It enables us to give children the opportunity to visit Maropeng who otherwise would not have been able to visit,” she says. “It’s a wonderful experience for children and it gives them important educational information, helping them to understand where we, as humankind, have come from.”

The trust has sponsored:

• St Barnabas College, a co-education secondary school from Johannesburg. The learners and teacher on the trip were impressed by the educational value of the experience and how it tied in with the school curriculum.
• Minerva Secondary School, from Alexandra, Johannesburg. The Grade 10 tourism students found the hands-on learning experience added value to their textbook learning.
• Tsoaranang Primary School. Learners from the Sharpeville school found the boat trip and learning about their ancestors particularly exciting.
• Vuyani Mawethu Secondary School from Stilfontein. Grade 10 natural sciences teacher Mrs Molete said the fossil display offered particular value for learners, who are studying evolution as part of their school curriculum.
• Burn survivors from the Children of Fire charity organisation, which cares for and rehabilitates burn victims and focuses on rebuilding the self-esteem of teenage burn victims. The interactive, audio and tactile exhibitions made for a great experience for these children, as many of them are partially sighted as a result of their injuries.

The Maropeng Education Programme will continue to sponsor groups for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010.

“As long as we have money, we will bring as many children to Maropeng as we can,” says Saunders.

Maropeng is a most exciting and interesting place – which is why, in August this year, we decided to catch all the action on camera and show it off online!

The Maropeng website’s weekly photo essays offer readers information about the top events and great facilities at the centre. The essays are informative and visually stimulating; they feature a number of captioned photographs all relating to the hot topic of the week.

The subject of the very first Maropeng photo essay was the new menu at the Tumulus Restaurant . In the essay, waitress Thelma Kgakatsi smiles about the exciting new dishes and says she just can’t wait to share them with guests. The photographs of the delicious new options look simply irresistible and show that Chef Peter Langa, who designed the summer menu, is truly a master.

September’s photo essays were all about Maropeng’s attractions. Beautiful shots of fossil displays, the underground boat ride , the surrounding landscape and the world-famous Sterkfontein Caves were the focus for the month.

The original fossil display, which showcases a copy of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species and fossils that are between 2.5-million and 300-million years old, featured in September’s line-up. The photographs from the underground boat ride show the colourful cave structures and the visitors enjoying the ride.

The mid-September photo essay showcased the splendour of the area surrounding the centre – from the flora and fauna to the Maropeng gardens and landmarks. The last week of September focused on the Sterkfontein Caves, displaying their magnificence and explaining their significance.

November’s photo essays concentrated on step-by-step developments at Maropeng and people getting involved in Maropeng activities. Two of the essays explained how the Tumulus building was completed – with some amazing aerial photographs – and how the hominid models were made. These essays had more written information than most to explain the processes clearly, but had just as many attractive photographs.

The other photo essays focused on visitors to the centre: fascinated children and famous faces . Photographs of former President Thabo Mbeki, comedian Mark Sampson, humanitarian Bob Geldof, singer Lira and palaeoanthropologist Professor Phillip Tobias are just some of Maropeng’s famous visitors.

December’s subjects have included the construction of the Maropeng Visitor Centre and the interior of the Tumulus Restaurant . The photographs of the construction show former Gauteng premier and Congress of the People co-founder Mbhazima Shilowa at the building site. The captions explain a bit about the architecture of the centre, which was based on the theme of discovery. The photo essay on the Tumulus showcases the beautiful interior of the restaurant, the scrumptious food, the pleasant atmosphere and the scenic views.

Overall, the introduction of the weekly photo essays has been a great success. It is rewarding to be able to offer visitors to the Maropeng website a peek at some of the splendid aspects of the centre by providing visual aids and succinct explanations. We hope that the continuation of these essays will encourage people to learn more about the past and visit the centre.

The Tumulus Restaurant, situated on the first floor of the Maropeng Visitor Centre, boasts the best views in Gauteng.

The restaurant is open seven days a week, and offers light meals and drinks. It also offers a fantastic carvery lunch on Sundays. Booking is essential.

The Maropeng Hotel restaurant brings you jazz lunches every Sunday. With breathtaking views, the hotel is the perfect place to refresh your soul, while taking in the melodies provided by the Chromatics.

The lunches are served from 12h30 to 15h00 at a cost of R150 per adult for jazz lunches and R110 for carvery lunches.